D&D General Character Building

[Vaalingrade]

Depends on what the concept and visual calls on first. Then I go fishing for the mechanics to make it happen.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

My process is mutable. There’s no fixed pattern. Besides the options listed above, I’ve designed PCs based on a song, on a piece of art, a weapon, a power/spell/feat, or even a concept that sprang into my head in various levels of completeness.

However, the LEAST likely thing I’d prioritize is how powerful the character will be.

 

[Charlaquin]

You're the missing pre-WotC character creation option. Roll stats and see what classes the character qualifies for, then go from there.

I believe that would qualify as class then race then background, or class then background then race. Ability scores come before class, but class comes before the other two things the poll is concerned about.

 

[Shiroiken]

My normal approach is to figure out a concept, then figure out which mechanics to use. Sometimes it's a race, sometimes a class, sometimes a specific game mechanic or spell, but I use this as my starting point. With 5E, I've DMed about half the time, so I don't get many chances to try out different characters. Because of this, I usually pick a subclass to build off of, such as my current Nature Cleric, Fiendish Warlock, and upcoming Bladesinger.

 

[Lyxen]

My normal approach is to figure out a concept, then figure out which mechanics to use. Sometimes it's a race, sometimes a class, sometimes a specific game mechanic or spell, but I use this as my starting point. With 5E, I've DMed about half the time, so I don't get many chances to try out different characters. Because of this, I usually pick a subclass to build off of, such as my current Nature Cleric, Fiendish Warlock, and upcoming Bladesinger.

Same for me, it's more a personality template first, after that the technicalities come, probably class first to see how it fits the concept in terms of abilities.

 

[Lanefan]

Class and race are both important but I usually think of class first (never mind that in our system to be any race other than Human you usually have to roll for it and may or may not get what you want). Also, as @overgeeked says sometimes you just gotta work with whatever the dice give you.

Background is irrelevant before roll-up, as many of the things that make up a background - languages known, past profession(s), age, family, homeland, etc. - are randomly or quasi-randomly determined either during roll-up or at some later time. @Lxyen has a point about personality, though; I'll often come up with that ahead of time and hope the dice are kind.

A few times in the past I've randomized absolutely everything about a character, just for kicks; and it probably says something that for most of 'em I can't remember any more which ones were rolled up this way and which ones had a bit more forethought.

 

[Skayaq]

Most of the time I look for what (sub)class are interesting mechanically, then select a race that fits, then background. Sometimes I go Ï want to play x race, what's a class that fits?"

 

[Scars Unseen]

If I'm rolling stats (which I am if I have a choice), I roll, then come up with an idea based on that. Otherwise, CRB for me.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I went Background, Race, Class because it was the closest thing to what I actually do... which is look at the setting, look at the theme of the campaign, find out how/where we are starting the game from... and then establish an idea of a character (devoid of mechanical worry) that would make sense for that space and for the what the game will be about. So the "Background" would come first... and usually a Race would be a somewhat obvious decision after the fact based upon the character's space now in the game. And which usually is why my Race selection generally starts at Human (and maybe might progress out from there), because most games tend to start humanocentric and thus being Human connects me most easily and snugly into it.

Then once I know all that... I will then fill in the mechanical details afterwards by selecting a Class that could make sense, oftentimes filling in gaps in party composition (like others have said) based upon what the party might need. What those mechanical gaps end up being doesn't really matter to me, because the character's design is already established and set up regardless of what class I end up playing. So I can select any number of different Classes and color my character accordingly.

Doing all of this allows me to have a character already involved in the story, tied to the story, and emotionally invested in what the story is, which I think is the most important part of the game and the part that most assists my DM in getting their game established and underway.

 

[Oofta]

You missed "I painted a cool mini that I want to use so I build a character around it".